I can't help but hate the side, here's why:
Benji marshall at 5/8 is a worry. the kid is f**king talented but sheens plan was to ease him in slowly, why the compromise of his plans? Did he think it out properly from the start? Surely coming back from six weeks of injury means he shouldn't start straight away in the middle of the field? I'm not saying that I can't wait to see him in the #6, i just wonder if it is too early for Benji and maybe bringing him off the bench into that position would have been a better move considering how effective he was coming off the bench last year.
The second row looks pretty much the same, which is bad news. Galea isn't strong enough to be an impact running second rower, so why put him there? it seems like sheens is simply trying to fit him into the side rather then either playing him at his best position (lock/5-8), or not playing him at all. Putting him in the second row seems like a weak compromise and Galea hasn't ever been a success in the second row.
The bench is shit. No lima means no impact forward. payten coming back from injury still has only played 40 mins of football this season. You can't rely on him to go out there and make an impact, he has to get his match fitness back first. so leaving him as the only prop on the bench is giving him far too much workload to handle. I'd only name one player out of senter, wilson, halatau, graham and bronson on the bench, instead he's picked them all. I'd only take one because all four of them only have second rower size with little impact from any of them all year. Senter/mears combo at hooker just looks unorganised, neither is especially good. Why not just play one for 80mins? Neither are really talented enough to justify keeping them fresh on the bench for some sort of impact late in a half. Instead, play them for their strengths. Both are 80minute guys who love competing and giving there all, so why use them the way that they are being used? Again, it just seems like sheens can't figure out which one to go with, rather then coming up with a plan that works to the attributes of his players.
Also, why is patto played one week and dropped the next? he either has unseen potential that should be developed in first grade or he has nothing and he should be forgotten. Same goes for dean, bronson, lima and wilson. i can't see how coming up and down between divisions each week can be positive for their performances. Bronson especially seems like half the player he was from the player who finished last year and started this year in terrific form. In my opinion, giving him 20 minutes a match is just really really stupid. You can see in the way he plays that he just isn't with the tempo of the game and is not given enough opportunity to actually get used to opposition defenses.
It's easy to be critical of a coach going trhough a rough spell, and I have been critical (and it has been easy for me). But, I just don';t think he is going for changes that should be made. he seems to lack faith in the young players he is depending on to resurrect this club and that lack of faith has an obvious effect on their play. If he has a plan he should stick to it, he played benji at centre for all of four or so matches, then suddenly back from injury he's given the very difficult responsisbility of the #6 in a poor backline. No player since the merger happened has been effective at 6, giving it to a young player with little experience is a massive risk.
